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TV Mohandas Pai among the front-runners for COO at Infosys Technologies

Economic Times | Posted By : |7 years ago |44 Views

Economic Times

TV Mohandas Pai among the front-runners for COO at Infosys TechnologiesAs Infosys prepares to appoint Shibulal as CEO later this yr, there is opportunity for non-founders like Pai to run the co. Pai, 51 heads HR & administration.

As Infosys prepares to appoint SD Shibulal, the current COO and the last among the founders to take on the role of CEO later this year, there is an opportunity for non-founders like Pai and newer leaders to get a chance to run the firm. Chairman NR Narayana Murthy will also retire in August this year.

"Shibu could be CEO and Pai, COO. There is also a possibility that Murthy could resign as non-executive chairman but continue as chief mentor," said one of the people. "There is a high likelihood of KV Kamath becoming non-executive chairman (if he accepts) and Kris becoming vice-chairman," he added. Mr Pai's long innings at Infosys, his leadership qualities and track record makes him an ideal candidate, the second person said.

Most Infosys COOs have gone on to become CEOs. The current CEO, S Gopalakrishnan, was COO before he was elevated to the CEO's position.

"He's (Mr Pai) extremely entrepreneurial and has a tremendous sense of global business. He's a man for all seasons," pointed out a senior Infosys executive.

According to Infosys' policy, the maximum retirement age for executive directors is 60 years, which means if Mr Shibulal, who is around 57 years, is made CEO he could continue till about 2014 after which the CEO's position would fall vacant.

Pai has been in a finance role as Chief Financial Officer of Infosys since 1994, and later took responsibility for the critical functions of human resources and education. He's also a well-known public face and has been part of various committees such as the Kelkar committee for reforming direct taxes and is currently on the Sebi board.

"It could be a great move for Infosys. He's got the ability to galvanise the team, and also address the customer. He can do both - drive the team and carry the objective to deliver. The only downside is that he's not a technical person, but that doesn't matter so much for a multi-billion dollar company of Infosys' size," said R Suresh, MD, Stanton Chase India, who's placed a number top IT executives.

When contacted by ET, Mr Pai said, "I am not aware of it - the nominations committee is an independent committee, it will take a decision on these matters." The nominations committee, consisting of Prof Jeffery S Lehman, Deepak M Satwalekar and Omkar Goswami, is responsible for succession planning for the roles of chairman, CEO, COO and CFO.